Rediscover Tiffany art in Winter Park

Thursday

Feb 22, 2007 at 12:01 AM

BY CAROLE SAVAGEFLORIDA COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS

The work of Louis Comfort Tiffany is popular with many, be they collectors or admirers. Fortunately, a short trip to the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art in Winter Park can provide a day trip worthy of those who have even the slightest interest in Tiffany art.
The Morse Museum houses what is thought to be the world's most comprehensive collection of Tiffany artwork, from glass to windows to jewelry and pottery. It is also home to the Tiffany Chapel, with an interior designed for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
The chapel features windows that showcase outstanding colors, mosaics and architecture. The creation of the chapel propelled Tiffany to the stature of a leading artist and designer of his time. The chapel has been reassembled and is open to the general public for the first time in more than 100 years. Even today, it brings out a reverence with its Christian themes and complexity.
"The chapel is the single wing most sought out, and there people are clearly moved when they experience it," said Catherine Hinman, director of public affairs for the Morse Museum.
The museum was founded in 1942 by Jeannette Genius McKean on the Rollins College campus. She named it the Morse Gallery of Art after her grandfather, Chicago industrialist and Winter Park philanthropist Charles Hosmer Morse.
A great addition to the museum occurred when Jeannette and her husband, Hugh, acquired the architectural elements, furniture and windows from Tiffany's Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall.
Throughout the next 50 years, the couple would collect the artist's work. In 1977, the museum moved to Welbourne Avenue and was renamed the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art. In 1995, it was moved again to the current location on North Park Avenue. With the expansion for Tiffany Chapel, the museum today has more than 11,000 square feet of exhibition space.
Hugh, who was president of Rollins College from 1951 to 1969, was the director of the museum from its founding on the Rollins College campus until his death in 1995.
The Morse Museum participates in Christmas in the Park, a tradition that has become part of the Winter Park scene every December. Each year during the holidays, a night is selected when Tiffany windows not seen during any other time of year are carefully brought out of storage and taken to the park. There, they are showcased with lighting and the background music of live orchestras, enabling residents and guests to enjoy a unique holiday celebration. Crowds gather around each window, reading memorial inscriptions and marveling at the dazzling colors.
"It's the only time of year those windows are seen, and people really love it," Hinman said. Museum officials realize this gesture serves as a gift to the public and has for 28 years.
"It seemed to make sense to do something like this for the community, and it's a wonderful event," Hinman said. "Mr. McKean wanted to showcase part of the collection in an informal environment, because he realized some people were less apt to come to the museum, and he wanted them to participate as well. We'll keep doing it forever."
A partnership with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Morse Museum resulted in the exhibition at the Metropolitan of about 100 Tiffany works. Titled "Louis Comfort Tiffany and Laurelton Hall," the exhibit showcases pieces on loan from the Morse and will be displayed through May.
That doesn't mean there isn't anything left to see at the Morse Museum. In fact, Hinman said, the available space from the objects on loan has enabled staff to bring out artwork that has not been seen in some time, providing something new even for those who visit often.
Other artists of the glass medium whose work is represented in the Morse include William Morris, Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, John LaFarge and Arthur Nash. A large collection of American paintings of the 19th and early 20th centuries is noteworthy, with an emphasis on Florida-related works. There is also pottery, painting and graphic arts.
In addition to the pieces of the Tiffany collection still in place, a current exhibit generating a lot of interest is "Dickens to Benton - Rare Books and Works on Paper from the Morse Collection."
The exhibit showcases more than 70 books and more than 35 prints and drawings that span 100 years. An 1884 first edition of Charles Dickens' "Martin Chuzzlewit" is just one item in the impressive collection of European and American works from the mid-19th century to the 1940s.
"Mr. McKean always did say we were not just a Tiffany Museum, and this is a wonderful, wonderful collection of books and pieces that people are really liking," Hinman said.
Admission to the Morse Museum is reasonable, and groups are welcome. Every Friday evening from November to March, free admission and live music welcome visitors. There are open house events held throughout the year with free admission, and Easter weekend will be the next one.
The Morse Museum is owned and operated by the Charles Hosmer Morse Foundation and receives additional support from the Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundation. It receives no public funds. The price structure enables more people to visit, which is what Hinman likes to see. Last year, about 56,000 guests visited the Museum.
"The Foundation keeps the prices at an affordable level so more people can enjoy the work," she said.
For more information, call 407-645-5324 or see www.morsemuseum.org.